Ski attaching device



Jun@ 24, QMI C, Q JOHNSQN 2,247,237

SKI ATTACHING DEVICE Filed March 8, 1939 Sheets-Sheet `l Nimm . INVENTOR c'A/Q o. Joh/125cm,

. lBY

June 24, WM., Y

Filed Mach 8, l1939 c. o. .JQHNSONv SKI ATTACHING DEVICE' 2' Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR cA/Q o. .Jo/1@ son,

Z BY l ATTORNEYS VCBW.

Patented June 24, 1941 UNITED TES PATENT @FMC 12 Claims.

My invention relates in general to skis, and in particular to a device whereby a shoe may be readily attached to or detached from a ski.

The principal object of my invention has been to provide a device having two interengageable members, one of which may be attached to the shoe and the other of which may be attached to the ski, and means for detachably locking the members together.

Another object has been to provide a device of this nature which can be so adjusted that the wearer of the ski may, in an emergency, detach the shoe from the ski by a quick, rearward movement thereof.

Another object has been to provide attaching means so designed that the portion which is attached to the shoe will in no wise hamper the normal use thereof when the ski is detached from the shoe.

Another object has been to provide the portion of the ydevice which is attached to the shoe With serrations or tooth formations, whereby slippage in walking or in hill climbing is prevented.

A further object has been to provide a device so designed and constructed that all working parts are enclosed,v the surfaces which are exposed to the snow being so designed that they may be readily freed from accumulated snow before being engaged.

Moreover, my device is of such a nature that it may be easily attached -to the shoe or to the ski without alteration of either.

Furthermore, my device is of such nature that the ski will be kept in perfect alignment with the shoe of the wearer, .but will in no wise impede the free, normal use of the foot of the wearer.

The above objects and advantages have been accomplished by the deviceshown in the accompanying drawings,l of which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional view taken on line I-I of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a sectional, plan View taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 isa transverse, sectional elevation taken on line v3---3 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 4 is a transverse, sectional elevation taken on line 4-4of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a bottom, plan view of that portion of my device which is carried by the shoe.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary, transverse, sectional view showing vthe lock pin in its emergency position, taken on line v6--i'of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a modiiied form of my device, partly in section, and taken on line 1--1 of Fig. 8, showing the portions in positions ready for assembling.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of that portion of the device which is secured to the ski, partly in section, taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a transverse, sectional View taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is a transverse, sectional View of my device taken on line lll-I0 of Fig. 8, showing the parts in assembled positions.

Fig. 11 is a transverse, fragmentary, sectional view taken similar to Fig, 10 and also on line lill 0 of Fig. 8, showing the lock pin in its emergency position.

Referring now to the form of invention shown in Figs. 1-6, inclusive, the preferred form of my device comprises a base plate l5 which is preferably secured to the ski I6 by means of nails I'I and screws I8. 'I'he plate is provided near its central portion with a housing 20 which is raised somewhat above the general level of the base, as shown in the drawings. The wedge-shaped member 2l of my device is formed at the rear portion of this casing. This wedge-shaped member, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, has its side walls 22 tapered inwardly in the vertical lplane and tapered rearwardly in a horizontal plane. The tapers of the inclined surfaces of the side walls are so proportioned that the wedge member will be firmly engaged with the coacting socket member 23, but at the same time may be quite easily detached therefrom.

The socket member 23 of my device, which is secured to the sole 24 of the shoe by means of rivets or other suitable fastening means 25, is lprovided with an upstanding ange 26 for engagement with the forward edge of the sole of the shoe. vThis flange not only provides a suitable stop for the shoe but also strengthens the socket member transversely and prevents its being spread or bent when `in use. The socket member is provided with a centrally arranged body vpart 30 and with two wing members 3l, one arranged on each side of the body part and projecting downwardly therefrom. The lower exposed surfaces of the wing members may be notched and thus provided with `teeth or transverse serrations 32 which aid materially in climbing a hill, since the toothed portions will give added traction to the wearer. The inner adjacent surfaces 33 of the wings are tapered inwardly toward the center in a vertical plane and are tapered inwardly in a horizontal plane toward the back of the shoe, these tapered surfaces corresponding to the tapered surfaces formed on the wedge member 2| of the device.

When the socket member 23 is attached to the shoe and is placed in registerable position with the wedge member 2|, a longitudinal movement forwardly' of the shoe in relation to the ski will cause the tapered surfaces of these two parts to be brought into engagement. In order to hold the parts in engagement, I provide a lock pin 34. This lock pin is slidably carried in a suitable aperture formed in the wedge member 2| of my device, and it is designed to project laterally therefrom for engagement with a suitable abutment formed on the socket member when in fully engaged position. For convenience, the teeth 32 may be so formed that the lock pinrwill engage behind one of them, as shown in fragmentary manner in Figs.V 2 and 5. The lock pin is formed on its outer end 36 with a cam-shaped surface which may be of semispherical form and the pin vis designed to be held inpartially engaged relation with the abutment of the socket member by means to be hereinafter described.

The opening 35 is formed in a sleeve member 40 which bridges the space between the side,

walls 22 of the wedgemember 2|. Oppositelyarrangedslots 4 lare formed in this sleeve member and a slot 42 is likewise formed in the inner end of the lock pin opposite the slots 4|. y

Mounted within the recessed portion of the casing 28 is an actuating lever |13.V This lever is pvotally mounted intermediate its ends upon a pivot pin 44 which is carried by the casing, and Ypreferably extends downwardly thereon. The rearward end of this actuating lever is providedwith a relatively narrow arm 45 which extends into and through the slots 4| in the sleeve `40 ,and engages with the slot 42 in the lock pin 36; whereby the lock pin will be reciprocated back and forth within the aperture 35 by the actuation of the lever 43.` lThe forward end ofthe actuating` lever extends forwardly and lies within an enlarged housing portion 46. This housing portion, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 44, has its upper surface arranged at a slight angle and in the inclined wall thus formed a sleeve ismounted which carries a control lever 5|. The control leverV is provided with a centrally arranged Spherical member 52 through which a pivot pin 53 passes. This pivot pin is carried bythe sleeve 5|). The control lever has a downwardly ,extending actuating arm 54 and an upwardly extending control arm 55. This control arm is provided at its upper end with a spherical portion, as shown, immediately under which is formed a detent recess 5'6, to be hereinafter described. The actuating arm 54 of this control lever extends downwardly and engages with an aperturef .formed in the forward end of the actuating lever 43. So as to compensate for 4the inclination of the wall which supports the control lever 5|, the forward end of the actuating lever is preferably twisted somewhat so as to be arranged at an angle with the body part of the lever, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

As clearly shown by Figs. 2, 3 and .5, when the socket member 23 is in fully engaged position with the wedge member 2|, the lock pin 36 will engage the socket member behind one of the teeth 32 and thus hold the socket member in place against detachmentfrom the wedge memberA until the parts are disengaged by the operation of the control lever 5|. Occasion arises, however, where the user of the skis desires to be able to detach his shoe from the ski in an emergency. In such cases, the lock pin 36 is withdrawn within the aperture to the position shown in Fig. 6 where only the cam-shaped end 36 will be projecting, in which position the pin will act in the nature of a bullet fastener. When in this position, a quick jerk of the socket member backwardly in relation to the wedge member will cause the lock pin to be pushed inwardly because of the engagement only of the camshaped end of the pin, thereby clearing the abutment and allowing the socket member to be withdrawn completely from engagement with the wedge member. In order to hold the lock pin in this partly extended position, a detent clip 6| is pivotally attached to a bracket62 carried on the housing portion 26. This detent clip is of such length that when it is passed over the control arm 55 of the control lever and is engaged with the ldetent recess 56 thereof, the actuating lever i3 will be held in such position that the pin will be only partly extended, as above described.

A helical spring E3 is provided for holding the actuating lever 43 in its fully operative position, as shown in Fig. 2. One of its ends is suitably attached to the inside of the housing 28 and its opposite end is attached to the actuating lever, as shown in Fig. 2".

`While the socket member of lmy invention is shown in the form just described as being attached to the shoe, and the wedge member as being attached to the ski, it is obvious that the parts may be reversed, and such a modified form of structure is shown in Figs. '7-11, inclusive, of the drawings, to which attention is now called.

In this form of invention, the socket member 'lil is preferably carried by means of a plate 1| and it is secured to the ski 'I2 by means of screws 13 and nails 14. This socket member is provided with two oppositely-arranged wing portions 15 between which is formed a dovetail groove 16. As shown in Fig. 8, this `groove is tapered longitudinally from the rear of the ski toward the forward end thereof; and, as shown in Figs. 10 and the side walls 8D bounding the groove 16 are tapered in a vertical plane or inclined downwardly.

The wedge member 8| fin this formiof the invention is carried by and attached to the sole 82 of the shoe of the wearer, and it is preferably provided at its forward end with a flange 83 against which the forward edge of the sole is adapted to bear and which gives added strength to this member of my device. The wedge member 8| is provided with a plate member 84 by which the member may be secured to the bottom of the sole of the shoe. Atongue member is centrally carried by the plate member 84 and has its side walls tapered longitudinally and vertically a degree substantially equal to the degree of the taper of the groove 16 of the socket member. Instead of being formed on its under'surface with teeth, as in the other form of device, the bottom surface of this tongue member 85 is preferably smooth and formed with a groove 38, thus providing an abutment 8'! for engagement with the lock pin 90.

The lock pin Vof this form of my device is mounted within an aperture 9| formed in one of the wing portions i5 and is pressed outwardly by means of a helical spring 92, mounted within the aperture 9|. The forward end 93 of this lock pin is cam-shaped, as in the other form of invention,

whereby emergency engagement of the wedge member `with the socket member Vmay be brought about. AExtendingforwardly from and forming a part'of one `of ,the wing members 15 is the housing 94 which is preferably made vintegral with the plate Mounted within this housingis .the actuating lever 95 of this form of my invention. This actuating lever is pivotally mounted upon a pivot `pin 96, extending downwardly from the upperwall ofthe housing. The rear end of this actuating .lever is formed with an arm 'which engages with a slot |0| formed in the lock pin 90, whereby when the actuating lever is operated, the pin will be reciprocated in its aperture. The forward end of the actuating lever is located beneath an enlarged housing portion |02 and is provided with an aperture |03. The enlarged housing portion |02 carries the control lever |04 of this form of device, which is disposed within a sleeve |05, suitably secured to the housing portion, said lever being mounted upon a pivot pin |01 carried by said sleeve. VThis control lever has a downwardly extending actuating arm |06 which engages with the aperture |03 of the actuating lever and whereby such lever is oscillated.

, The control lever is provided with an upwardly extending control arm ||0 in which is formed a detent notch A detent clip |2, `pivotally carried by the housing enlargement, is engageable withthe notch of the control lever when the same is moved to the dot-and-dash line position of Fig. 9, in which position the lock pin 90 will be held in its `partially retracted position, as shown in Fig. 11, which is the emergency position of the pin.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that since the socket member in the form of invention of Fig, 1 and the wedge member in the form of invention of Fig. 2 is secured to the forward part of the sole under the toe of the shoe, the wearer will have perfectly free ankle and foot movement without the usual restraint which comes about when the shoe is strapped rigidly to the ski. Another advantage of securing the shoe member of my device at the forward end of the toe portion of the sole is that when the shoe is detached from the ski, the shoe member will not in any way hamper the normal use of the shoe but, on the other hand, the teeth, notches, or serrations on the bottom surface of such member will provide additional traction and help in walking on ice or snow. Moreover, my invention is so designed that all the working parts are enclosed and effectively protected against being rendered inoperative by an accumulation of snow or ice. Furthermore, the exposed engaging surfaces of my invention are such that they may be readily cleared of any accumulation of snow by means of the nger or any ready instrument. When it is desired to engage the shoe with the ski, it is only necessary to force the shoe member into engagement with the ski member. The tapered or dovetail-shaped interengaging portions of the members will be readily engaged without the necessity of accurate registration and when assembled the lock pin in each form of the invention will be automatically forced inwardly, allowing the mem bers to become engaged, after which it will spring outwardly in locking position, thereby keeping the two members in such locked position. When it is desired to have the members so interlocked that they may be disengaged in an emergency, it is only necessary to bring the detent clip of either form of invention in engagement with the control arm `of thev control lever, which will hold'the lock pin linpartiallyretracted position, in which position 'the 4cam-shaped end thereof only `will be engaged with the shoe member, as hereinbefore described, thus making it possible for the wearer to quickly disengage the shoe from the ski while in the act of skiing and without having to manually operate any part of the control mechanism. Such detachment of the shoe from the ski may be accomplished `by a quick backward movement of the shoe. When the lock pin is in its fully engaged position and it is desired to detach the shoe from the ski, it is only necessary for `the wearer to reach down and move the control lever against the tension of `the spring in either of the forms ofi-invention, which will cause the actuating lever to retract the lock pin, allowing the member carried by the shoe to be readily disengaged from the member carried by the ski by rearward longitudinal movement.

While I have shown the socket member of the form of Fig. 1 and the wedge member of the form of Fig. 2 as formed on their under surfaces with the series of teeth 32 or serrations, it is obvious that these surfaces may, if desired, be smooth. Furthermore, while I have shown the engaging surfaces of the wedge and socket memberas being tapered or dovetailed longitudinally, it is obvious that the side walls may be substantially parallel .and one or the other of the members provided with a stop to limit the amountofl relative movement. In such a modified form, each of the opposite sides of the lock pin` would engage anabutment to prevent relative movement ofthe member in either direction.

Furthermore, if desired the actuating lever may be omitted and the control lever engaged directly with the look pin, the slot in the lock pin being elongated to allow inward movement of the pin when in its emergency position.

These and other modifications of the details herein shown and described may be made Ywithout Vdeparting from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims, and I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the exact embodiment herein shown and described, the form shown being `merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I` claimis:

l. A ski attaching device, comprising a ski` member, a shoe member, said members being slidable longitudinally to interengage each other,

oneof said members being of closed housing for-I mation, and locking means enclosed within said housing and projectable laterally therefrom to engage said other member.

2. A ski attaching device, comprising interengaging members carried by the ski and a shoe, said members being slidable longitudinally to interengage each other, one of said members being of closed housing formation, locking means enclosed within said housing and projectable laterally therefrom to engage said other member, and actuating means substantially enclosed within yand carried by said housing formation for releasing said looking means to disengage said members.

3. A ski attaching device, comprising a ski member, an interengaging shoe member, a lock pin movably carried by the ski member and lock.. ingly engageable with the shoe member, said lock pin having two oper-ative positions and one inoperative position, and means for holding said pin in said operative positions.

4. A ski attaching device, comprising a ski member, an interengaging shoe member, a lock pin movably carried by the ski member and lockingly engageable with the shoe member, said lock pin having a fully extended position, a partially extended position, and a withdrawn position, means for yieldalcly holding said lock pin in said fully operative position, means for moving said pin to said withdrawn position, and detent means for holding said pin in said partially extended position.

5. A ski attaching device, comprising interengaging members carried by the ski and a shoe, a closed housing formed on the members carried by the ski, a lock pin carried by the housing and laterally movable for engagement with a locking abutment formed on the member carried by the shoe, a control lever carried by said housing, and an actuating lever pivotally enclosed Within said housing, said actuating lever having one f its ends engageable with said lock pin and its other end engageable with said control lever.

6. A ski attaching device, comprising interengaging members carried by the ski and a shoe, a closed housing formed on the members carried by the ski, a lock pin carried by the housing and laterally movable for engagement with a locking abutment formed on the member carried by the shoe, a control lever carried by said housing, an actuating lever pivotally enclosed within said housing, said actuating lever having one of its ends engageable with said lock pin and its other end engageable with said control lever, and detent Vmeans carried by said ski member and engageable With said control lever for holding said lock pin in partially unlocked position, whereby the shoe may be easily detached from the ski in an emergency.

7. A ski attaching device, comprising interengaging members carried by the ski and a shoe, a closed housing formed on the members carried by the ski, a lock pin carried by the housing and laterally movable for engagement with a locking abutment formed on the member carried by the shoe, said lock pin having a cam-shaped outer end, actuating means engageable with the lock pin and substantially enclosed Within the housing, and detent means carried by said housing for holding said lock pin with its cam-shaped end only engageable with the shoe member, whereby the shoe may be easily detached from the ski in an emergency.

8. A ski attaching device, comprising a socket member carried by the shoe, a Wedge member carried by the ski, each of said members having tapered dovetailed surfaces and being engageable by relative longitudinal movement, said Wedge member constituting a closed housing, and locking means enclosed Within said housing for retaining said members in locked position.

9. A ski attaching device, comprising a socket member carried by the shoe, a wedge member carried by the ski, each of said members having tapered interengaging surfaces, `a lock pin slidably mounted Within said wedge member and engageable with an abutment 4carried by said socket member, a housing formed on said Wedge member, an actuating lever pivotally enclosed within said housing, a control lever, and means connecting said actuating lever with said lock pin and said control lever.

10. A ski attaching device, comprising a socket member carried by the shoe, a Wedge member carried by the ski, each of said members having tapered interengaging surfaces, a lock pin slidably mounted within said Wedge member and engageable with an abutment carried by said socket member for positively locking the interengaged parts, a housing formed on said Wedge member, an actuating lever pivotally enclosed within said housing, a control lever, means connecting said actuating lever With said lock pin and said control lever, and detent means carried by said housing and engageable with said control lever for holding said lock pin in partially unlocked position, whereby the shoe maybe easily detached from the ski in an emergency.

l1. The combination with a ski and a shoe of fastening means, comprising a one-piece ski member, a one-piece shoe member, said members having dovetailed interengagement, said ski member being of closed housing formation, locking means enclosed within said housing member and projectable therefrom to engage said shoe member and said shoe member being located at and secured to only the toe part of the shoe.

l2. A ski attaching device, comprising interengaging members carried by the ski and a shoe, said members having dovetailed surfaces for interlocking engagement, a closed housing formed on the members carried by the ski, a lock pin carried by the housing and laterally movable for engagement with a locking abutment formed on the member carried by the shoe, a control lever carried by said housing, and an actuating lever pivotally enclosed Within said housing, said actuating lever having one of its ends engageable with said lock pin and its other end engageable with said control lever.

CARL O. JOHNSON. 

